Saturday, January 29, 2011

STUDENT TENANTS SLAM: Columbia-bound developer

Rollins

Part three of a series on P&Z-approved Campus
Crest Communities

COLUMBIA, 1/28/11 (Beat Byte) -- When
Campus Crest student housing CEO Ted Rollins emailed his construction chief,
Bryan Sharpe, "to take time off" because he was "acting very stressed out," it
was an internal glimpse of a situation that had reached an external boiling
point in communities across the nation.

"We can’t scream and call people c--ts and mother f--ers,"
Rollins emphasized, in emails cited in state and federal court documents
accusing the North Carolina-based firm of hostile workplace practices. "We
can’t storm out irrationally if someone disagrees with us; we can’t be
EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE."

Sharpe had reason to be stressed. In city after
city, the company's most important component -- its student-tenant customers --
were revolting, protesting what they characterized as shoddy workmanship, missed
deadlines, broken promises, and inadequate company responses.

Flickr-ing out

As student protests have gone public -- this
172-member Anti-Grove Facebook page is
another example -- community residents have also taken up the outcry.

"Student complaints from these complexes are troubling,
and the same across the country," writes Fort Collins, Colorado resident Peggy
Loonan in a detailed Jan. 27, 2011 editorial
for the Coloradoan, which has closely
covered Campus Crest's controversial appearance in Colorado State University
country. "Appliances don't work; apartments aren't cleaned; move-in dates are
pushed back because construction isn't complete; or students are moved into
unfinished apartments."

Greeley, Colorado residents put up a Flickr album that shows dying
lawns; broken vinyl; trash; and other evidence of less-than-sterling workmanship
at their version of The Grove, a Campus Crest branded complex.

Closer to home, a Feb. 7 Columbia
City Council meeting may greenlight The Grove at
Columbia -- a 632 bedroom student apartment project on Grindstone Parkway
and Rock Quarry Road unanimously approved by Columbia's Planning and Zoning
commission last week.

"We didn't have any of this information about Campus
Crest in other communities," Columbia P&Z Commissioner Ann Peters told the
Heart Beat. "It wasn't provided to us by city staff or anyone else. We had no
idea all this was going on."

Common commotion

Tenant complaints about Campus Crest and "The Grove"
brand of student apartments date back to at least 2007. The Ellensburg
Daily Record interviewed Central Washington University
students about lease changes and delayed moves.

Campus Crest claims it tried to accomodate, but at least
100 students thought it was too little, too late. "So
far it's been horrible," said CWU student Ashley Smith. "Everyone I've talked
to says its a problem."

The University of South Alabama
Vanguardnewspaper wrote that "delayed
move ins and disappointments seemed a common theme at several of The Grove
housing units built this year."

Steven F.
Austin State University (SFA) students
moving into a Campus Crest complex in Nacogdoches, Texas "found a host of
inadequate living conditions," The Daily Sentinel, that
city's newspaper reported in 2008.

The company later resolved most of the problems, however,
and "worked effectively to combat a widespread feeling that apartment properties
were developed too quickly to deliver a quality result." Campus Crest
officials pointed to high lease renewal rates as evidence of the turnaround.

But for many students seeking the high-end living Campus
Crest promised, late resolution to early problems wasn't enough. SFA graduate
student Shawna Lee told reporters broken windows and holes in the
ceiling prompted her not to renew. "Things improved under a new manager," Lee
said, "but there was not a whole lot she could do about a poorly-built
complex."

"I would not chose to live in The Grove again, nor would I
recommend the apartment complex to anyone," SFA student Ashley Landers
told The Sentinel. Landers stayed in a hotel until her apartment was
ready, only to find it "flooded and the carpet completely ruined" when she
finally moved in. "The management just didn't take care of what it needed to
do."

SFA student Denesha Williams said when she moved into The
Grove in September 2007, "the amenities were either not functional or they were
delayed. Some of the apartments would flood after it rained, and they would
have to bring in big fans to dry the carpet."

With a low 21% recommendation rating and critical comments galore at
ApartmentRatings.com, Campus Crest's
promised performance remains to be seen, says Fort Collins realtor Curt
Schreiber, who runs a blog devoted to college student
housing. Two million dollars in contractor liens, many settled for 50 cents on
the dollar, struck Schreiber as a "pretty big red flag" right off the bat.

"Students who are potential occupants of the apartments
might want to check out the generally poor tenant ratings of Campus Crest's
similar development in Evans, Colorado," he writes. "Fort Collins can, and
indeed should, do better for student housing than what is currently proposed for
The Grove. If Campus Crest can improve their proposal to meet community
standards and expectations, then great. If not, then they won't have my
support."

1 comment:

In an upcoming Northern Colorado Business Report Letter to the Editor: Feb. 11, 2011 - I note this: "Campus Crest has pulled out of some cities but is fighting hard here {Fort Collins, CO} and in Columbia, MO. Why? Perhaps it’s because neither City’s P&Z nor City Councils can consider student complaints or their reputation when considering approval."

Also The Rocky Mountain Collegian - the student newspaper at Colorado State University in Fort Collins will be publishing what sounds like an indepth story on the company and attempt to build here this next week after I sent them info on the lawsuits and student complaints.